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Monday, 8 April 2013

Well, the new tax year is nearly upon us, and so it's time to complete the audit of our toys. We keep our toys in the living room, in a blue trug and a basket (which used to be Rachel's sewing basket until we decided it was the right size for sitting in...). Rachel tipped them all out on the floor and we helped her group them by type. She was a bit surprised at how many we have... so we thought you might like to see them before she makes us pick some to get rid of (boo!).

Numbers 1-6 are various handmade coasters and mats which Rachel made for other purposes but which we requisitioned for our own uses. More important, I think you'll agree.

7, 8 and 9 are kickers - 8 is a Kong Kickeroo which we LOVE, 7 and 9 are Rachel's handsewn attempts which are not that popular (shh, don't tell her).

11 is the top part of a bed which Rachel bought at some expense for us. Unfortunately we hated the bottom part as it was filled with polystyrene beads, so that's in the loft, but we quite like licking the fur part. 10 and 12 are new catnip mats which Rachel's made for us recently - Lila loves these! I am not so bothered about catnip myself. If you're interested in buying some of these for your cat look out for them in our shops soon.

13 and 14 are handknitted scarves which I've taken a liking to, dragging them through the house to hide in various dark corners. Rachel says they are NOT toys and she's going to put them back in the cupboard... 15 is a length of feather boa which we absolutely LOVE playing with, and sitting and licking. Sometimes we get pink fluffy bits in our poop... heehee!

Next, the seafood section: 16 is a cute little catnip prawn; 17 a crocheted fishy, 18 a Yeowww catnip fish from the USA.

19-21 are prototype catnip toys Rachel made which we are totally not fussed about (they are going in the bin!). 22 is a vibrating bunny keyring which never fails to terrify Lila no matter how many times she's seen it.

Now we come to the large rodent section! 23 is the wonderful Cedric, remember him (I hardly do, despite our brief but intense love affair last year...). 24 and 25 were from Pets at Home; 28-32 are the crocheted quintuplets with their Mum #33. 34 and 35 are lovely big knitted catnip mice which we got from Katz Castle last time we stayed there. We like bringing these to Rachel and Pete wherever they are in the house! 36 was made from an old vest of Rachel's, now sadly tailless (bin!); 37 and 38 from an old jumper; 39-43 made from other old tshirts and tops. 44 must be the grey meece's Caribbean cousin. 45 is supposed to whizz along the floor on clockwork wheels, but doesn't work on the carpet (bin); 46 and 47 are supposed to be good for our teeth but they're too small really to be any fun. 48 is a Kong Wubba wot we love.49 to 51 are more prototypes - these ones catnip fish and we have found them pretty fun - again, look out for them in the shops soon!

52 a freebie from Zooplus where we get our food - we love licking the feathers. 53 is oddly a tiny cat which one of us ferreted out from somewhere and claimed as our own... 54 an old gardening glove, and 55 an ostrich feather Rachel and Pete brought home for us from a South African's wedding! Loads of fun! 56 and 57 pinecones (fun for a few minutes); 58 and 59 are thread reels, great for batting around on the floor, just make sure all the thread's finished first!

60 and 61 are catnip knots Rachel bought us from the London Pet Show; 62 some random thing knotted out of an old top which is fun to play tug of war with. 63-65 are random crochet items Rachel made for us (no catnip, so we're not even bothered, innit).

BALLS! 66 and 67 are crinkly foil ones Rachel got while on holiday in the US last year - we were totally not fussed at the time but having them out again for the audit has shown us how fun they are! 68 and 69; not really sure why these are there - who do they think we are, dogs?! 70 and 71 have rattly things inside, we love these, for the seven seconds they stay out of the underneath of the sofa! 72 and 73 are very odd - the inners of Rachel's roll-on deodorant - lots of fun for batting around the tiled kitchen floor. 74 is supposed to glow in the dark, but doesnt; finally 75 is the most expensive toy Rachel and Pete have ever bought us - there's a mouse in it and it rolls around with a very realistic squeak. Are we bothered? NO WAY!

77 is probably our long-running favourite, Kiwi. Kiwi is the toy Lila carries around the house in her mouth when she's looking for Rachel or Pete. She makes a funny yowling noise when she does it, it's very cute (you can see a video of this here). If she can't find them, like if they're out at work, she just leaves Kiwi in the middle of the lounge floor so they know she's been thinking about them. At night, Rachel has to take Kiwi upstairs with her otherwise Lila yowls for the humans all night and wakes them up! (oops).

OK where are we? The last few things - don't worry, you're nearly there! 78, the laser pointer.79 and 80, cheapo fishing toys from Wilkos which are now permanently united in a Gordian knot (bin!).
Finally 81, the homemade fishing toy Rachel made us - much better than the bought ones!! Mia drags this around the house, which is especially funny when she tries to get it through a door the wrong way round...

WHOA that's a lot of toys! Well thank goodness we only have to do this once a year... Rachel has plans to slim down our toy collection, but that's fine if she's going to replace them with superior toys, which I'm sure is her plan! How many toys do your cats have? As many as us?!